US Supreme Court declines to challenge New York gun law

The United States Supreme Court will avoid weighing in for now on a restrictive gun law in New York state.

The country’s top justices said Monday that they won’t hear the
case of Kachalsky v. Cacace, a lawsuit that challenged an Empire
State firearm law that critics say makes it difficult to legally
carry a concealed handgun in public.

In the state of New York, residents must establish “proper
cause” for obtaining a concealed-carry permit and demonstrate a
heightened need for self-defense.

A federal Court of Appeals rejected an attempt to overturn that
rule late last year, prompting the case to be presented to the US
Supreme Court back in February. That request was filed on behalf of
five residents of Westchester County with the backing of The Second
Amendment Foundation, an organization “dedicated to promoting a
better understanding about our Constitutional heritage to privately
own and possess firearms.” On Monday, the court declined to
consider the appeal without further comment.

When the appeal was rejected in New York last year, a
three-judge panel said none of the plaintiffs could adequately
prove “a qualifying need for self-protection beyond that of any
other member of the public,” Celeste Katz wrote at the time for
New York Daily News.

"As the parties agree, New York has substantial, indeed
compelling, governmental interests in public safety and crime
prevention," last year’s ruling read in part. "The only
question then is whether the proper cause requirement is
substantially related to these interests. We conclude that it
is."

When the appeals court rejected the Second Amendment
Foundation’s plea, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called the
unanimous decision "a victory for New York State law, the United
States Constitution, and families across New York who are rightly
concerned about the scourge of gun violence that all too often
plagues our communities."

Meanwhile, a new gun law considered to be even more restrictive
went into effect in New York on Monday. That legislation, which
limits state gun owners to no more than seven bullets in magazines,
is the first of its kind to be passed in the country in the wake of
December’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown,
Connecticut.